Chilli Pepper, Chicago trans icon and champion for LGBTQ+ rights, dies

CHICAGO — Chilli Pepper, a Chicago trans icon and champion for LGBTQ+ rights who was a beloved and influential leader in the fight for marriage equality and the AIDS crisis, died this week.

For decades, Chicago’s own Chilli Pepper entertained thousands as a performer at The Baton Show Lounge.

“You know, Chilli is one of those pillars of our movement. Someone who has been there almost since Stonewall, and active during that whole period of time,” Tracy Baim said.

Baim is the co-founder of the Windy City Times, an LGBTQ+ newspaper that was first published in 1985.

“The trans performers of that era, of the late 70s and 80s, were really on the front lines for our community when a lot of other people stayed tightly in the closet,” Baim said.

“She was a trailblazer,” Celebrity Chef Art Smith, a longtime friend of Chilli Pepper, said.

Smith said Chilli Pepper not only used her talents as a career, since coming to Chicago in the early 70s from Detroit, but also raised awareness and money for LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS as a guest on Oprah, Donohue and Jerry Springer.

“She knew the world and the people loved her. I mean, she was hysterical, irreverent, extremely smart,” Smith said. “And so she was very savvy and she wasn’t just an entertainer, she was an ambassador to the city.”

Just five months ago, Chilli Pepper was one of two Chicagoans to present Oprah Winfrey the highest honor during the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.

Baim said she believes her genuineness and generosity endeared her to many, as she used her platform to amplify her community and educate on stage and on television.

“She may not have been on the front lines lobbying for a bill, but man, oh man, did she affect that legislation, did she affect marriage equality and response to the AIDS crisis, and not only that he raised so much money by volunteering her time at so many hundreds and probably thousands of benefits over the years,” Baim said.

Her final performance on stage took place in March during a benefit for Howard Brown Health.

“Oh my god, when she came out on stage in that white suit, the crowd went freaking wild and the dollars were just pouring in,” Baim said.

Chilli Pepper’s humor transcended politics and personalities finding humanity as the cornerstone of her life.

Chilli pepper passed away in her Gold Coast apartment this week after a battle with cancer.

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